Yikes! That happened to me. About 10 years ago, I had to have surgery to repair a left inguinal hernia. On the morning of the procedure, the nurse was preparing me for the operation and going over the paperwork. I was already freaking and frothing at the reality that I would soon have my crotch cut and crocheted when the nurse said, Okay, Mr. Frame, if youll just sign this form giving your consent to have a right inguinal hernia repair, youll be good to go.

No, no! Its not the right side, Nurse Ratchet. Its the left side! I whipped my fashionable gown aside and pointed to the creepy bulge on the left side of my loins. Quick, give me a marker!

She fetched me a Sharpie and I drew a big X atop the summit of my problematic protuberance. I thanked her through gritted teeth, and watched her closely as she changed the surgical order. Then I signed the form and was wheeled off to surgery.

Prior to being knocked out, I displayed my X to everyone in the operating room, just to make sure. They all found this much more amusing than I did. Ultimately, the operation was a success. Whew!

When I had my appendix removed the physician saw that there was a "You will pick the six of hearts" written with a Sharpie on the incision site. Earlier I had forced the 6H on the doctor. Well, maybe not, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it...

I had cataract surgery on my eyes about 2 years apart but at different local surgery centers. The first marked the eye to be worked on with an "X". The second wrote the word "Yes" above the eye being fixed. I asked why and the answer was: "X has two meanings....it could mean "Use this one" or it could be "Don't use this one". Made sense to me. I was just comfortable that THEY knew what they were doing.

Dave Mithaca wrote:When I had my appendix removed the physician saw that there was a "You will pick the six of hearts" written with a Sharpie on the incision site. Earlier I had forced the 6H on the doctor. Well, maybe not, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it...